TOURISM ALEX VANAGAS

WHAT IS TOURISM Tourism is the commercial organization and operation of vacations and visits to places of interest. Tourism is still growing in British Columbia, it is a dynamic industry and a major economic generator.

HISTORY OF SKIING INDUSTRY IN BRITISH COLUMBIA 1914: First resort is built at Whistler 1920: Grouse Mountain’s first lodge is built 1949: Grouse’s first double chairlift is constructed 1965: Whistler bid for 1972 Winter Olympics 1966: Grouse’s blue tram is built 1966: Whistler officially opens for skiing 1976: Grouse’s red tram is built 1978: Blackcomb officially opens for skiing 2008: Peak 2 Peak opens 2010: Vancouver and Whistler host the Winter Olympics 2010: The Eye of the Wind is finished being built on Grouse

HOW IMPORTANT IS TOURISM IN B.C. Tourism has become an important sector that an impact on development of country economy. The main benefits of tourism are income creation and generation of jobs. For many regions and countries it is the most important source of welfare.

THE PROBLEM How will global warming affect British Columbia’s ski industry?

GLOBAL PROBLEM British Columbia ski resorts have had less snow than they did historically. The French Alps have had much less snow than they had previous years, the winter of 2014/15 was the worst that they had in 40 years.

THE PROBLEM IN BRITISH COLUMBIA Cypress, Whistler, and Big White have all had a lot less snow over the past few years. Climate on the mountains has been much warmer and is expected to keep getting warmer

THE SOLUTION? Global warming is almost impossible to stop but there are ways for the ski industry to have more snow. One way they can have more snow is by making snow.

Snowmaking To make snow the outside temperature has to be at least 0 degrees. The snowmaking machines break the water down to small particles. Then the machines spray the water particles into the air The water would then come down as ice One problem with snowmaking is it takes a lot of water to get a good amount of snow 200 square feet of snow would take 200,000 cubic feet of water

Sources http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/e8/British_Columbia_Flag-contour.png http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/11293374/Ski-holidays-hit-by-warnings-of-poor- snowfalls-in-Alps.html http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/how-bcs-ski-resorts-are-coping- with-global-warming/article22731538/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Grouse_Mountain https://grousemountain.com/snowmaking http://www.theglobeandmail.com/news/british-columbia/major-snowstorms-in-bc-stoke- climate-change-worries/article22855378/ http://thetyee.ca/News/2014/12/22/Peak-Snow-Ski-Resorts/ http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whistler_Mountain http://www.snowmakers.com/snowmaking-basic.html